Tropicana
by Tevya Feinstein
Summary: There's a valuable lesson to be learned in all this.


**_Here's an interesting story inspired by actual events.  
_**

Lucas was in a foul mood. Someone had stolen his orange juice again. He was sure he knew who took it this time, and paybacks were _very_ in order.

Waiting and watching from a distance, Lucas took in all the sights and sounds around him while he stood on the sidelines near the bridge. His brain was now on overdrive, as he thought about hatching a plan. One way or another, he _would_ get even.

Chatting with others on the bridge, he noticed from a distance that LCDR Hitchock was sitting at her station, scanning through any last minute changes to her classified report. Every day, members of the crew were given their own classified reports, each one with their name on it, and each one highlighting any pertinent new information, including a schedule with specific times they needed to be at their respective places for duty.

As Lucas watched from a distance, Katie walked away from her station, and when she left, she didn't bother to take her report with her. It was right there, sitting out in the open. More than likely, she thought it would still be sitting there when she returned. You'd think, by now, she probably should've known better.

Ensuring that he'd gone unnoticed, Lucas quietly walked toward her chair, and glancing around, he grabbed the report, and tucked it inside his shirt. He walked off the bridge as though nothing had happened.

Lucas now had exactly what he needed.

Knowing Miguel had gone to grab lunch, Lucas slipped into his quarters, threw Katie's report on his chair, and searched until he found his carton of orange juice. Then Lucas slipped back out of Miguel's quarters, and went back to the bridge. Fortunately, his absence for that brief moment had gone unnoticed.

Miguel was about to get exactly what he deserved.

"Alright. I know I put that report right here, and now it's gone. Jonathan, you didn't happen to see it, did you?

"Can't say as I have. Did you check with the captain?"

"I'm not sure I want to tell the captain I've misplaced it. Besides, for all I know, he might've been behind its disappearance."

Jonathan Ford smirked.

Katie immediately became suspicious. "How do I know _you're_ not behind this?"

He immediately adopted a serious tone, and throwing his hands up in the air in self defense, retorted, "Hey, wait a minute. I don't know anything about this."

Katie shot the man an icy glare of disbelief.

"Seriously, I don't. Did you look everywhere? Maybe you left it in your quarters."

"I haven't been in my quarters since I had it, but I'll check there too. If I don't find it soon, I'm probably going to have to report it as being lost."

"Yeah, well, you better find it. You know how the powers that be are about that kind of thing getting into the wrong hands. Next thing you know, that information's out there for all those 'enquiring minds' who want to see it, and the big kahuna complains that we're driving up production costs. You should probably ask the captain. You know, he _has_ been known to investigate this sort of thing in the past."

Katie's eyes shifted to the captain. He was sitting on the other side of the bridge reading his own classified report fairly intently. As she slowly made her way in his direction, she passed by Tim O'Neill, who was sitting at his station flipping through the pages of _his_ report, reading over highlighted sections pertaining solely to him.

As she approached Tim, Katie nonchalantly dropped her pen, and leaned over slowly to pick it up. As she came back up, she carefully read the cover of Tim's report. His name was on the cover.

"Alright," she said to herself, "That wasn't my report."

She made her way to the other side of the bridge. The captain was sitting quietly reading through a report that closely resembled Katie's. Then again, everyone's report resembled Katie's. Taking a seat next to him, Katie unassumingly leaned over his shoulder to see if any of the highlighted marks on his report pertained to her.

"LCDR Hitchcock, is there something I can do for you?"

"No, sir, I was… just… "

Katie quickly glanced at the captain's report. Nope. That wasn't hers, either.

"just looking for something. Sorry… sir."

Katie then walked toward Kristen Westphalen, who was engrossed in what she'd been reading. She'd scribble little notes, stare blankly at nothing as though she were memorizing certain sections, or playing certain sections out in her head. Then she'd go back to reading, and scribble notes in the margins again.

As Katie slowly started to maneuver toward the good doctor, the doctor stood up, and walked over toward the captain. They quietly spoke to each other as the two compared notes. By now, Katie had gone from being desperate, to just plain paranoid. She walked back to Jonathan Ford, and gestured in their direction.

"Do they look like they're up to something?"

Jonathan glanced over, and gave Katie a mischievous grin.

"They _do_ look suspicious. Do you want me to ask them if they have your report?"

"No!" She shouted. "I mean, no," she whispered.

Katie was at a loss. She'd never lost something this important before in her life. It just didn't make sense. She'd just had it a few minutes earlier. How could it have just disappeared.

"Lucas?"

"Yeah?"

"You haven't seen my classified report anywhere have you?"

"Your report?"

"Yes, my report."

"Your '_classified'_ report?"

"Yes, my classified report."

"Whoa. Katie, you've lost your classified report?"

"Shhhh. Not so loud."

Lucas whispered. "Wow. This is _not _good. Did you ask around?"

"Let's just say I've been looking for it. Losing it isn't something I really want getting out."

"Oh, well," Lucas said, as he showed her his, "It isn't this one. This is my report. My name's on this one."

"Yeah. I know," she whispered. "That doesn't help me, Lucas."

"Oh, well, where's the last place you remember seeing it?"

"I could've sworn I sat it down right over there." She pointed to her station on the bridge."

"Wow. And you're sure it's not there anywhere?"

"I looked."

"Sucks to be you. You want me to help you find it?"

"Really? You would do that? That'd be great," said Katie, punching Lucas affectionately in the arm. "Let's keep this on the QT, though, if you don't mind. You know how they are around here about those reports."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Show me exactly where you left it."

Katie walked with Lucas over to the far side of the bridge near her chair, and showed him where she had last seen her file.

"Very interesting. You know, I could have sworn Miguel was over here before he left to go get some chow, but… "

"But? Lucas? But what?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't have taken it. After all, Migs would _never _take something that didn't belong to him." Lucas' voice seemed to take on a slightly sarcastic tone. "Have you checked in his quarters? I mean, you know how Miguel can be sometimes. Maybe he was trying to get your goat."

"Lucas, don't you think he would've learned after the incident with the coffee cup?"

"We're talking Migs here, Katie. I mean, I wouldn't put anything past him."

"Do you really think he'd do that? You would think he would've learned his lesson the last time he did something like this to me."

"Katie, for all we know, we could be dealing with a kleptomaniac here. I mean, I have reason to believe he was responsible for another theft earlier this morning."

Katie was seething. "If he has my report, then I'm going to…"

"Let's go check his quarters."

Katie walked with Lucas to Miguel's quarters, and quietly slipped inside. She wasn't two feet inside his compartment when there, on his chair, sat _her_ classified report."

Now Katie wasn't just seething, she was incensed. "Why, I'm gonna…"

When Miguel got back from lunch, she was _so_ going to make him pay for this, so Lucas gave her some suggestions on what she should do to try to get even.

When Miguel returned from lunch, he was stunned to see a security team standing by, waiting for his arrival. He looked at them with some apprehension.

"Is… something wrong?"

They surrounded him.

"Guys, seriously," he smiled in an attempt to ingratiate himself to them, "Is there something I can do for you guys?"

No one spoke.

Miguel was getting nervous.

"Look, whatever it is, seriously, I didn't do it."

Miguel became even more apprehensive as the circle they'd formed around him broke, and Katie cut through, holding her classified report in plain sight for him to see.

"Katie, what's going on?"

"Oh," she said, in a quiet, yet dangerous tone, "I think you know _exactly_ what's going on." She tapped her fingers on the front of her report.

Miguel's voice shook.

"No, no I don't. Really, I have no idea what's going on."

"Boys," Katie said, "You know what to do from here."

Miguel was shouting in a last-ditch effort to defend himself as the team picked him up, and carried him with tremendous speed toward the moon pool.

"Guys, seriously, I didn't do anything. Whatever it is, it has to be some kind of mistake!" Then he realized where they were heading, and he begged them not to do it.

Katie followed from behind. Everyone on the bridge, the captain and Kristen included, were laughing as, once again, another practical joker was thrown in the moon pool. And even after he came back up, he still insisted he didn't do it. Whatever it was, he swore it wasn't his fault.

Still confused by what had just happened, Miguel stood in the pool, and holding his hands up, yelled, "What did I do? What did I do?"

Katie walked away, took a seat at her station only a few feet away, and started reading her report as though nothing had even happened. Miguel stood in the pool in total confusion.

That's when Lucas decided to make an appearance.

"Hey, Miguel," he said, with a mischievous tone in his voice.

Lucas leaned over the edge of the moon pool, and took a swig of his orange juice. Miguel recognized the carton immediately.

"You know, Migs, it's never a good idea to take somebody else's belongings. People tend to get kind of peeved when you do that kind of thing."

Then Lucas turned around, and walked away.


End file.
